As John Lovaas explains in his column in this week's Reston Connection, revision of the Reston Master Plan is about to start. Folks who want to take part in the revision process would do well to attend the Land Use College.
John is rightly critical of recent land use decisions in Reston and of the weaknesses of the current Master Plan. He includes a formidable list of developments already approved for Reston.
The fundamental weakness in the current planning process for Reston is not so much the Master Plan but the portions of the Fairfax County planning ordinance that applies to Reston (and only two other small sections of the County.) The planning ordinance assumes that a single developer is responsible for Reston and allows that developer a great deal of latitude in planning and implementing development. This arrangement may have made sense when there was a single developer, but it makes little sense now. Because there is no single developer, the ordinance in effect allows the County a great deal more latitude in Reston than it can exercise elsewhere in the County. In effect, we have traded Bob Simon for Cathy Hudgins. As much as people may object to any one proposed development (and there do seem to be far too many and development that it is too dense), fighting any one proposal will not solve the problem. People who care about Reston need to work to have the ordinance changed so that overall control is put in the residents' hands, perhaps in an elected planning and zoning board for Reston.
